Friday, August 28, 2009

Melleny Melody + The Pop Machine - Super Happy Darkness (2001)

Melleny Melody first became known in her native Toronto as an eclectic fashionista who traveled around the city in her oddly decorated car. She was also a huge dance music fan, and in the mid-1990s, thanks to her local celebrity, she helped form indie electronic label Play Records, which would put her unique musical persona on record. They also started Gay Records to launch their more pop-oriented music, and Melleny Melody + The Pop Machine was born. The "Pop Machine" were a couple of her friends who handled some production and instrumental duties. They released a couple singles in 1999, "Fashion Victim" and "Honey Pill / E-Me", but their album didn't appear until 2001, along with two more singles, "Doin' Dishes" and "Loveshower". Their music incorporates everything from lounge to drum 'n' bass to techno to electro to house, all pulled together by her girlish voice and lyrics. They remained a very underground act, and I'm sure they never imagined being anything more. Their last release was "Bad Girl / 8 Inch Pumps", and then The Pop Machine was no more. Melleny did collaborate with composer and arranger John Henry Nyenhuis to produce the strange Cartoon Songs To Drive You Crazy, but otherwise stayed out of the music spotlight. Then, in 2006, Melleny reemerged as Mellee Fresh and appeared with popular Canadian electronic house wizard Deadmau5 on "Cocktail Queen" and "After Hours", both underground club hits that also helped make Play Records a bigger success. Over the next couple of years they collaborated on more singles, with her Mellee persona being more a spoken word artist, a la Peaches, than a singer. This year, with their song "Attention Whore", they finally hit the big time, hitting number 10 on the Billboard Club Play charts, and the song is still charting there. Obviously Melleny's new persona has garnered her a broader audience, and there's no telling how far she'll go. To explore here Melleny Melody persona, go HERE. For her Mellee Fresh persona, go HERE.

2 comments:

What an unusual but brilliant artist lol, love Doin Dishes and I'm So Happy from her debut. I just can't believe though that she's in her 60s and has just had a Top 10 dance hit. Guess anything can happen with this cartoon lady lol

Oh and her real name is Melleny Brown and she was the voice of Cheer Bear in the first two movies and TV series of the show.

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